A Student Cross group on their Easter pilgrimage to Walsingham yesterday crossed the River Ouse.The 23 students from the midlands boarded the ferry from West Lynn to King's Lynn and are due to arrive in Walsingham at 4.

A Student Cross group on their Easter pilgrimage to Walsingham yesterday crossed the River Ouse.

The 23 students from the midlands boarded the ferry from West Lynn to King's Lynn and are due to arrive in Walsingham at 4.30pm on Good Friday, having travelled 120 miles from near Nottingham.

The Northern group, or leg as they are called, started out on Saturday and they carried a heavy cross with them, which takes three people to lift. It is the 60th year of the Student Cross pilgrimage.

Murray White, a former leader of the group, was on his last pilgrimage due to the birth of his daughter.

“There are 10 different groups, they start from various parts of the country and arrive in Walsingham on Good Friday,” he said.

“The fact that I have come back for 18 years is an indication that it's very meaningful for me and I can't think of a better way of marking Easter.

“This year the weather's been excellent but we have noticed a number of the pubs we like to stop at are shutting. It's a sign of the hard times.”

General organising director Felicity Cairns visits all 10 groups as they make their way to Walsingham.

“It's been brilliant this year, really good, this is the eighth group we have visited so far and they are all on course,” she said.